One from the Past Comes to the Present
by Naggeela
Summary: A life where your choices are all ready made and worshiped like a god, but siblings shelter there sister where she won't go mad. The first three chapters are set up for my chaters and after that Naruto and others will show up. R
1. Wolf Clan

This is my first fanfiction that I have posted on the net. Its a Naruto fanfiction, but the first three chapters are setting up for my own charaters and Naruto and his friends will appear in the fouth chapter and so on. This story had no official title as of yet, but the name that you will see is like a chapter name. Have fun reading and please R&R!

Naggeela

Naruto -- Wolf Clan

Twilight was overcoming the sun as it set behind the tall juniper trees. Darkness stole between each of the trunks, extending its tendrils ever farther as animals scurried to their sleeping places, desperate to be out of sight before the night hunters.

Lying next to her window, Anuri watched the evening creep closer. She wondered what the darkness really felt like. She yearned to be outside as twilight came to the village. Unfortunately, her station kept her within the shrine walls. She had always hated what her 'parents' called "duties," things like having to bless newborn babies so they would grow up to lead prosperous lives. She was restricted to the shrine and the altars around the village. It was required of her to remain in public, sacred areas, so the citizens could come to her for blessings of health and guidance. Duties were the all-encompassing factor of her life; that had been ingrained into her mind at the age of five. Now she was seven years old, and all she could do was wonder what things were like in the village proper, beyond the confines of the shrine.

In frustration she got down from the window seat and paced her room. Adorning the room was a small mirror on the wall to her left. A small table on the right side of the room and on the table was a hairbrush, a picture of her brother and various ninja weapons. After pacing for some time did she get her hairbrush from the table, walked over to the mirror and started to brush the long locks. Her hair color matched the incoming darkness, a steel-blue; her eyes a blue-purple that of deep water and her tail and ears slightly lighter than her hair color. After brushing her hair which had calmed her down some what and she walked back to the window. Swaying her tail side to side as she sat on the window sill, ears twitching as she heard all the sounds outside the shrine and inside.

She had been battling with herself over the thought of going outside the shrine without supervision. The thoughts that flowed through her mind were of the consequences of what would happen if she were to be caught, but the outside still called to her, inviting her to walk the darkness, and her reasoning flew out the window. She jumped out of her window when her 'parents' had to attend to other duties in the shrine so they would not notice that she was not there. She hopped from one roof to the next until she was close to her destination, then hopped onto a side street below. After looking around, satisfied that there was no one around, she smoothed out her wrinkled clothing and walked toward the lighted streets of the main market.

Light blinded her temporally as she entered the bustling marketplace. She blinked her eyes a few times to help them adjust then started toward one of the small shops near the edge of the market.

As she made her way down the street one of the village children notice Anuri walking by herself and pointed her out to his friends. He nudged another boy, Oni, in the ribs to get his attention.

"Wasn't that one of those tailed freaks that just walked by?" the boy asked.

"Yes it was, Shu, and you don't have to poke so hard," Oni answered rubbing his side to dull the pain.

"So what are we going to do?" A girl piped in. "She doesn't belong here."

"Well Cre, we are going to run her out. Come on, before an adult comes to tell us off," Oni replied.

Oni was the group's undisputed leader. The children ranged in age from seven to nine years, Oni being the oldest. They were the terror of the village. Steal small things from the various shops, tease the village dogs until the barking was so loud that you could hear it from across the village and their favorite past time was to bully the other children.

The whole group ran after Anuri so they could make fun of her and shout mean things at her. Catching up to Anuri, Oni shoved her hard and knocked her to the ground.

"Why did you do that?" She asked quietly, picking herself up from the ground.

"Because you're a tailed freak and you don't belong here," Oni said.

"And because of you our parents think that tailed freaks are the best and they expect us to be just like you tailed freaks!" Cre said.

"Yeah, what she said," Shu added defiantly.

"I haven't done anything to you." Anuri interjected.

"But you're still one of those tailed freaks the adults worship. You make our lives harder." Oni said venomously.

"I don't mean to," Anuri protested. "Couldn't we try to be friends?"

"You have got to be kidding! You're still a freak, and we hate freaks. Even without a tail you would still be a freak." Cre picked up a small rock that was in the road and chucked it at Anuri, hitting her square on the forehead. Another rock followed suit as Shu joined in the abuse. Tears welled up in Anuri's eyes as the children continued to throw rocks at her.

At that moment a tall young man turned the corner to see what was happening. He was about seventeen years old with dark, steel-gray hair that was the same color as his tail and ears. His eyes were gray, like that of molten silver, and were haunting to look into. Seeing what the children were up to he ran up to Anuri and scattered the children away.

"Get out of here, you brats, before I tell your parents what you've been up to tonight."

Oni, trying to save face, said, "Lets go, it's the big freak. I don't want to have to beat him up tonight, too." The children scattered, leaving Anuri lying in the middle of the road.

The young man hurried over to his little sister and picked her up. Okami the Giant, Anuri's protector. He took a cloth out of his pocket and began to clean up her wounds. "You should be more careful when you walk the streets at night. The villagers do not welcome us, especially the ones our own ages," Okami said, brushing the hair out of Anuri's face so he could clean it.

"Why do we have to be careful?" she asked with big inquisitive eyes.

"It's because we are different from the rest of the village. You, our sister, and I possess tails and no one else does."

"Why do we have tails anyways?"

Finished with his inspection of her wounds, Okami put Anuri down and took her hand as they walked back to the shrine. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he tried to come up with an answer to her question.

"Well, we could be in some ways a reincarnation of Lord Telko. As the legends go, he assimilated with a demon wolf that was going to destroy the village. In turn this assimilation granted him the power of the demon wolf. With that transformation he gained ears and a tail. The clan back then was a nameless one; but Telko thought to make everyone the same, so he granted some of his powers to his clan and everyone gained wolf ears. Then we became the Wolf Clan."

"But why are we the only ones with tails, then?" Anuri interrupted him.

Okami laughed abruptly at her comment, but the smile on his face quickly flew. "I'm just getting to that, little one. Telko never had any children of his own when he died, and the villagers were at a loss because the man they worshiped had passed on. As the generations came and went our 'parents' became the shrine keepers. From what I have overheard the priests saying, it seems that we are the reincarnations of Telko, the heirs to his legacy." Okami paused for awhile then, lost in thought. Finally, he said, "I think that it was the Manona Tree that granted us the power of Telko. Whenever I touch it I get a burning sensation from it that feels . . . somehow familiar to me."

"Is that why I feel more at home in that tree than anywhere else in the village?"

All Okami did was nod yes to her question. As they approached the shrine he could feel the tension radiating from within the structure.

Anuri did not notice anything; she was still caught up with their previous discussion.

"So we have more power than the rest of the villagers?"

"In theory, yes. But don't try to get back at those children. No matter how much you fight, they will always be that way. Hurting others never makes you a stronger person. I learned that the hard way. By the way," he stopped for a moment and looked at her. "Our 'parents' know that you have left the shrine." The look on his face was tired, and unquestionably sad.

"I will take what they give; I did just leave without anyone knowing where I had gone."

"That's good that you are taking responsibility for your actions."

Anuri pleased at her brother's praise, smiled and took Okami's hand, leading them both to the shrine gates. When they arrived the guards did not say anything to them but simply let them pass. Once inside the grounds of the shrine, Okami lead her to the Manona tree. The Manona stood in its place as it had for generations, protecting those living beneath its arching canopy of leaves. Anuri let go of Okami's hand, running to the tree and climbing up to the lowest branch. Lying on the gnarled branch she looked up into its canopy. The leaves were dark silhouettes against an even darker sky, spattered with pinpoints of light. Anuri listened to the quiet swishing of the leaves in the wind and drifted farther and farther away among the stars.

Morning light crept up the shrine wall like a climbing vine. As it reached the top of the wall, it shown into Anuri's eyes. Her eyes-lids fluttered open; she was staring up into the Manona's branches, glowing light green in the sunlight. She was admiring the beauty of the tree when suddenly there came a loud scream from within the temple. Anuri sat up from the tree limp that she had slept on; she listened carefully to the activity that was centered around that sound. After a few moments she realized that the sound had come from her sister's room. Fearing the worst she jumped from the tree and headed toward Shiroi's room. Rounding the corner to her sister's room, she nearly bumped into Okami, who was standing in the doorway. His eyes were toward the room, yet he seemed somehow to know she was there. Gently but firmly, without looking at her, he prevented her from going any farther.

"Okami, let me go. I want to see what happened," she demanded, struggling to break Okami's grip on her shoulder. Her frustration got the better of her; it was not like her brother to be so strict. Struggling against his iron grip, she almost yelled, "Okami, let me go! I want to see!"

Her outburst seemed to draw him back to the present. He finally looked at her. "Anuri," he said. That was all.

She was slightly put off by the way he was acting, but she still wanted to have her way, so she spoke up quickly. "I want to see, Okami. Let me in." Then, because she saw the strange look in his eye, she added, "please."

However strange her brother was acting, she could not have predicted what he did next. Falling to his knees, he grabbed Anuri and pulled her toward him in a fierce hug. Anuri simply stood there, stunned, as Okami hugged her tightly. Finally, he pulled away, and she could see that his eyes were red from crying. Confused but unsure of what to do, she stood up on her tip-toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. A smile flitted across his face and vanished, replaced again by that deep sadness. There was an awkward silence for her.

Trying to soften the mood, she whispered, "Okami, can I go see?"

Wordlessly he stepped to the side, opening the path into the room. But just before she stepped through the doorway, Okami put out a hand. She waited. "I'll be waiting here when you are finished, little one," he said quietly. Anuri nodded, and moved forward.

She entered the room. Her 'parents' and most of the shrine workers were inside, crowded around Shiroi's bed. Wriggling past all the people she finally saw her sister lying on the bed, looking peaceful, but with bloodstains all around her. Anuri inhaled deeply and caught the deep scent of death coming from her sister. Going to the side of Shiroi's bed, Anuri tried to wake her up. But she didn't wake. Anuri grabbed her wrists to shake her, but quickly gasped and let go. Shiroi had killed herself by cutting her wrists. Tears welled up in Anuri's eyes as she looked at her dead sister. She searched the faces around her for a sign of sympathy, but there was no comfort from any of the adults clustered around the bed. Distraught, she ran out of the room and buried her head in Okami's waiting arms.

"Why is Shiori dead?" she demanded, her tear-stained eyes looking up to Okami.

Her brother's voice was quiet. "I don't really know, little one. But I think the pressures of what we are were getting to her and she just couldn't handle it anymore." He did not tell his sister what Shiroi had said to him the day before.

_Shiroi, are you really going to go through with this?_

_Yes I am. All that I want is to be a normal person, and this is the only way I can think of to get away from it all._

Shiroi's hair, tail and were as beautiful as fresh-fallen snow with a light blue tint. Shiroi's eyes were a soft pink, and kind, like a sakura flower that is beautiful to look at. She went up to her brother, giving him a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

_I have to do this. I can't stand what they are doing to us._ Leaning close, she whispered something into his ear. Then, releasing him, she walked out of the room with her head held high, showing no sign of regret for what she was to do later.

Coming back to the present, Okami watched as his now only sister cried in his arms. _You never thought about how this would affect Anuri, did you Shiroi?_ He thought.

Holding tight to the crying Anuri he stood up, carrying her in his arms, and headed for the Manona Tree.


	2. Wolf Clan Commentary

Moment of Silence for Shiroi

…

…

Okay! Now that everyone's all done crying…

WELCOME TO MICHI'S COMMENTARY!

This is the home of the best-ever, no-hands-barred, polite-yet-scathing commentary on Naggeela's story. I'll be here to provide you all of the humorous and witty remarks that didn't make it into the story because it was too dramatic.

I like humor, y'see, but Naggeela always seems to make things so sad! So here's my fictitious retelling of what _could_ have happened at the end of this chapter…

Trying to soften the mood, she whispered, "Okami, can I go see?"

Wordlessly he stepped to the side, opening the path into the room. But just before she stepped through the doorway, Okami put out a hand. She waited. "I'll be waiting here when you are finished, little one," he said quietly. Anuri nodded, and moved forward.

She entered the room. Her 'parents' and most of the shrine workers were inside, crowded around Shiroi's bed. Wriggling past all the people she finally saw her sister sitting on the bed, looking peaceful, but with bloodstains all around her.

No, wait a minute. They were not bloodstains, they were pasta sauce. Anuri inhaled deeply and caught the deep scent of spaghetti coming from her sister. Then she looked around and noticed the portable burner set on the floor near her sister's bed. On it was a huge pot of spaghetti, bubbling slowly. Anuri stared. What could her sister possibly be doing?

Shiroi finally looked up and noticed Anuri. She smiled. "Hey, sis! Did you come to try my spaghetti?"

"Um, I guess so," she replied, and waited as her sister spooned some into a bowl. She wondered at the strangeness of the whole scene. Who had screamed earlier? And why had Okami looked so upset at the door?

Her sister handed her the bowl. "Go on, try it!" Anuri took a big bite.

_Blegh!_

"Well, how do you like it?" Shiroi's eyes were shining.

"Um… it tastes… like… chocolate," she managed to get out. She was having a hard time swallowing her bite.

"I know! I love chocolate, and I love spaghetti, so I decided to mix the two. Isn't it great?" Shiroi continued on, talking about her new recipe.

"Ergh…" Anuri turned slowly and walked toward the door, making a tremendous effort to swallow the food in her mouth. When she got back into the hallway, Okami was there. He held out a glass of water to her, and she drank it gratefully. When she was done he pulled her close to him in a strong hug.

"Okami, what's happened to her?" she wailed.

His eyes looked sad and far away. "It's a sad, sad day," was all he answered.


End file.
